After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of
the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom he
valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about
Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his
slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying,
“He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and
it is he who built our synagogue for us.” And Jesus went with them, but
when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him,
“Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my
roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word,
and let my servant be healed. For I also am a man set under authority,
with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another,
‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does
it.” When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd
that followed him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such
faith.” When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the
slave in good health.

Mendelssohn's "Elijah," part I
I cannot read this text without
The strains of Mendelssohn
Reverberating through my head
In many-layered tones;
Elijah taunts the prophets,
"Call him louder" his refrain,
I smile as he sarcastically
Keeps singing his disdain;
"Perhaps he's on a journey,"
Euphemistic'lly he goads,
"Pursuing!" Maybe Baal's off wooing
Down amorous roads!
"Or peradventure," (quietly)
"He sleepeth," Eli mocks,
I have to say, of all the prophets
Old, Elijah rocks!
But not just for his anger, or
Dramatic, forceful zeal,
But for his tenderness, as he
Goes on with this appeal:
"Draw near you people, come to me,"
The prophet soothes in song,
Then prays, "Lord, God of Abraham
"...This day let it be known
That thou are God, and I'm thy servant,"
Thus his tone is changed;
For all his bluster, still his doubts
Reveal he's not deranged
But waits to see if God will act
According to his word,
"Oh, hear me, Lord, and answer me"
He prays that he's been heard!
"And let their hearts again be turned,"
Is what he deeply craves;
The love Elijah knows, and has,
The people, always saves.

So Ahab sent to all the Israelites, and assembled the
prophets at Mount Carmel.

Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, “How long
will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God,
follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The people did not answer him a
word. Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet
of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets number four hundred fifty. Let two
bulls be given to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces,
and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other bull
and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. Then you call on the name
of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord; the god who answers
by fire is indeed God.” All the people answered, “Well spoken!” Then
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and
prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put
no fire to it.”So they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and
called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, “O Baal, answer
us!” But there was no voice, and no answer. They limped about the altar that
they had made. At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud! Surely he
is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a
journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” Then they cried
aloud and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances
until the blood gushed out over them. As midday passed, they raved on until
the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer,
and no response. Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come closer to me”;
and all the people came closer to him. First he repaired the altar of
the Lord that had been thrown down; Elijah took twelve stones,
according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of
the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name”;with the stones he
built an altar in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the
altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed.Next he put the wood in
order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, “Fill four
jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” Then
he said, “Do it a second time”; and they did it a second time. Again he said,
“Do it a third time”; and they did it a third time, so that the water ran
all around the altar, and filled the trench also with water. At the time
of the offering of the oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said,
“O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that
you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these
things at your bidding. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this
people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their
hearts back.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the
burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the
water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their
faces and said, “The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is
God.”

About Me

I grew up in the church. I remember my 3rd and 4th grade Sunday School teachers at the Niskayuna (NY) Reformed Church, was baptized and confirmed at Bakerstown (PA) Presbyterian Church where I wrote my first sermon; gave a Youth Sunday sermon at my home church, New Hartford (NY) Presbyterian Church; went to Haverford College and Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. Pastorates: Sackets Harbor (Presbyterian), Heuvelton (Presbyterian) and Potsdam (Presbyterian), New York; Bennington, Vermont (Old First Congregational); and Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania (Collenbrook - Presbyterian and U.C.C.), and a “bridge” pastorate at First Congregational Church, Hadley (U.C.C.). I have files upon files of poems for all kinds of occasions, including family greeting cards and personal notes, farewell accolades to colleagues, hymns, and things that just struck my fancy. Retired, I write a poem each week on a lectionary passage. I hope it helps preachers or anybody else who wants to get started thinking about a text in a new way.
Member Tanglewood Festival Chorus in Boston; previously: The Philadelphia Singers Chorale, and Da Camera Singers and Ars Cantorum in Amherst. Tweet @lectionarypoems